This invention relates to a method for processing of a silver halide color photographic material (hereinafter abbreviated as photographic material), particularly to a method for stabilizing processing substantially without carrying out the step of washing with water subsequent to the desilverization step.
In recent years, in a photo-finisher which carries out developing processing of photographic materials automatically and continuously, the problems of protection of environment and water resources are regarded as important, and it is desired to reduce the large amount of washing water employed in the water washing step which is carried out after fixing or bleach-fixing processing preferably to zero. For this purpose, there have been proposed techniques to carry out stabilizing processing directly after fixing or bleach-fixing processing without performing washing with water. For example, Japanese Laid-open Pat. Publications Nos. 8542/1982, 132146/1982, 14834/1982 and 18631/1983 disclose techniques for processing with liquid stabilizer containing isothiazoline derivatives, benzisothiazoline derivatives, soluble iron complexes, polycarboxylic acids, organic phosphonic acids.
These techniques concern methods for inhibiting or preventing the problems caused by the fixing or bleach-fixing components brought into the liquid stabilizer by the photographic material. None of these techniques are practically useful at when more than a specified of the fixing and bleach-fixing component is brought into the liquid stabilizer. The replenishing amount of liquid stabilizer is required to be used in a specified minimum amount. Particularly, there is involved the drawback that yellow stain at the unexposed portion in the photographic material is increased due to the prolonged storage after processing.
Also, as another problem, when stabilizing processing without washing with water is conducted continuously for a long term, stain immediately after processing at the unexposed portion is found to be increased disadvantageously, irrespectively of the amount of the fixing and bleach-fixing components entrained into the liquid stabilizer.